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With the housing market in crisis, more homeowners are letting out properties they cannot sell. This has led to a number of “accidental landlords” that fail to understand their responsibilities and duties.

If this situation sounds familiar, it’s important to live up to your new role and to protect yourself (and your property) in every way possible – so take a look at these five useful tips:

Take out landlord-insurance

First and foremost, you must take out landlord insurance with a reputable company. This will help protect your rental property against a range of home incidents and emergencies and could save you a lot of money in the long run. Reputable policies cover everything from plumbing and drains to electrical wiring and roof damage, so make sure you read the small print before you sign on the dotted line.

Revamp your property

The competition is tough out there, so revamp your property as much as possible. Give the walls a lick of paint, lay a new carpet (if necessary) and make sure your property is as clean as possible. A few tweaks here and there will give you a higher change of renting your property and will ensure your occupants have a nice, comfortable place to live. Landlords have a duty of care toward their tenants, so try not to cut corners.

Place a suitable advert

Do you want to rent to young professionals or students? Will you allow families or couples? Is your property for smokers or non-smokers? Whatever you decide, you must draw up a suitable advert. State the type of tenants you’re looking for, jot down the weekly rent price and make sure you include a phone number or email address so people can contact you. Advertise on the internet and in local shops and you should find your business starts to thrive.

Interview all tenants

Once you’ve taken out a landlord insurance policy, revamped your house and created your advert – it’s time to interview tenants. This is an extremely important process that must be handled with care. The right tenants will make your life bearable, but the wrong tenants could make your life hell, so take the time to meet each and every individual. Of course, first impressions can be deceiving, but go with your instincts and take your time to choose someone suitable.

Ask for references and deposits

To help with your decision, ask all tenants to provide a reference from a former landlord and employer. This will give you an overview of their character and will help you select an individual with a good background. You should also run a credit check and ask to see a signed contract of employment, so that you know they will pay rent. Finally ask, for a deposit to secure the room and find out more about deposit protection schemes.

Being a landlord can be fun, but it’s important to do things right.

Many homes do suffer from subsidence and if you’re having difficulty purchasing insurance get in touch with experienced online brokers who have many years in the business and know just what their clients require. They have insurance partners who specialise in subsidence insurance and make the buying process straightforward to ensure customers find the right cover at the right prices.

What subsidence insurance covers

Buying subsidence insurance means if your property has suffered from landslip, ground heave or the ground moving under it the insurance policy will cover repairs and any reconstruction work. Brokers understand the problems subsidence can cause householders and if repairs are carried out properly the chances of subsidence recurring are quite low. Experts in the insurance business can compare prices for this type of insurance using their database of some of the UK’s leading insurance companies, they will ensure you get the best deal around which could save you money in the long run.

Causes of subsidence

There are many causes of subsidence, one of the most common ones is the shrinkage and swelling of clay soil which in turn causes foundations to crack. Leaking drains are also known to cause subsidence so it’s advisable to keep checking all drains on your property ot make sure they are in good working order. Trees and shrubs too often cause subsidence by shrinking the soil due to soaking up water through their roots especially during the summer months. Do your homework before planting trees or shrubs to find out which species need a lot of water to survive and cross them off your shopping list to help prevent subsidence.

Online brokers offer great solutions

If you need information about subsidence insurance online brokers have all the answers, make contact by e-mail or telephone to find out what a policy covers, how much it will cost and how to renew it. Experienced insurance advisers will do all they can to help clients no matter what their query is, alternatively there’s a huge amount of advice and guidance on the relevant websites about subsidence insurance which makes very interesting reading.

Subsidence is not pleasant to live with and can cause thousands of pounds worth of damage, it can happen suddenly and without any warning so buy subsidence insurance now if you haven’t already done so. Get the best policies available on the market now.

If you have a number of properties that you are letting out then you may appreciate anything that makes your life administratively easier and possibly also more cost-effective.

A multi property insurance policy just might be just one example of how to start achieving that:

• if you have a number of properties under management, you may well find the frequent need to check insurance renewal dates and premiums to be one of the less enjoyable aspects of your day-to-day business operations;

• insurance is something that may prove to be critically important to you but that doesn’t mean that you necessarily need to enjoy having to deal with it;

• that may be true enough even if you are only letting out a single property but it may be considerably more the case if you have several;

• fortunately, some insurance providers offer what they may describe as property portfolio insurance;

• as the name suggests, this means that they will offer cover for a range of your properties under the one policy and administrative structure;

• the advantages of this may be very real.  For example, you may only have one annual renewal date to worry about, one premium to pay and only one company to deal with as opposed to several;

• the cost effectiveness may also be improved due to the fact that, as you might expect, insurance providers may offer preferential premiums because they are obtaining a more substantial chunk of business from you than might be the case if you were discussing only a single property with them. In other words, you’ll be a bigger fish in the pond and that is sometimes beneficial in terms of service and pricing;

• different insurers may offer property portfolio cover under different minimum qualification criteria.  For example, some may insist upon a minimum of four or more properties to obtain such cover, whilst others may have lower thresholds;

• the basic principles of your rental property insurance cover may not be significantly different to those associated with an individual policy.

Of course, as with the case of individual property cover, it is necessary to read the policy carefully in order to establish that it is suitable for your needs and circumstances.  That should also include, in detail, its terms and conditions.

Shopping around is typically advisable and there may be no benefit in simply jumping for the first policy that you see.